3 ways your employees can tell your story

Every employer has a story to tell. And every story is a unique insight into what makes your company stand out amongst your competitors. Your career site is the ideal place to tell your company’s story in a personalized, compelling way that resonates honestly with job seekers. So, how can you capture your company’s essence to create organic, genuine relationships with candidates?

Your best ambassadors are right on front of you
Your greatest advocates and most credible storytellers already work for you. Instead of stock images and blanket mission statements, let your current employees be your voice: there is no one more uniquely qualified to provide genuine, impactful insight into your organization and what it’s like to work there. Here are some ideas on the best way to involve your people in your employment messaging.

1. Showcase your people on your site

Employee photos, videos and testimonials are powerful storytellers that allow you to convey your company culture in an authentic, transparent way. It provides the opportunity to create a compelling depiction of who you are as an organization and what it’s really like to work for you.

The goal is simple: when you speak candidly and provide a real-world, day-in-the-life narrative of what it’s like to work at your company, you’re creating a powerful image and vicarious experience in the candidate’s mind. Our resident videographer and senior art director offers key tips for creating engaging video content.

Leverage your marketing department for photo and video shoots, or engage an experienced vendor like NAS. That way, you are assured of a professional image and relevant content. However, don’t let budget be a barrier. These days, it is often possible to create photos and video via mobile phone cameras, which are highly sophisticated and can provide a certain immediacy and viral quality to your communications.

People spend 2.6x longer on pages with video

Career blogs are another highly effective tool in telling your story. The opportunities are many; you can profile a particular department, a certain sect of employees (RN new grads or general interns) or assign a theme that aligns with a company event (participation in community initiatives or national sponsorships). Content suggestions can involve:

• Why your employee selected you over a competitor
• How your organization supported them at the outset of their careers and continues to provide support
• Encourage your employees to speak in specifics: think, “the tuition reimbursement program paid for me to finish my degree,” not, “they offer career growth
• What makes their career journey with you a continually satisfying experience
• Why they stay (camaraderie, employer reputation, etc.) 

One last point: a visually centric medium, be sure to include supporting photos and video on your career blog.

2. Let your employees create the content

Employee-generated content speaks to the very essence of authentic storytelling. According to recent stats, a full 50% of employees post about their company, while 65% of candidates would consider a job from a personal connection. When telling your story, it’s important to consider the source candidates most relate to – the voice of their peers.

To reiterate, your storytellers are the people who already work for you. To get started, you can set up a social marketing campaign and implement a shared hashtag to be used for content across social platforms. There are 3rd-party tools (like Juicer) that allow you to consolidate employee-generated content across social channels and aggregate that data to appear on your career site, thus allowing you to display a “live feed” of activity on your career site showcasing the content your employees shared. For an example of what this looks like – and a company doing it effectively – check out the career site we created for Longhorn Steakhouse.

3. Have your employees share their experiences

• 54% of online job seekers read company reviews from employees
• The vast majority of online job seekers read at least 6 reviews before forming an opinion of a company

Candidates trust employees 3x more than employers, and employees have 10x more connections than companies have followers. Much like the juggernaut that is Amazon reviews, people look to the opinions and shared experiences of others, and your employees are reviewing you in the public eye all the time via their social media channels. Taking it a step further, be sure to encourage your employees to leave a review of you—their employer— on Glassdoor, as well.

You have a great story to tell. And we’d love to help. For more insight into this topic, download our new infographic: The Stats on Storytelling.

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